Young Billy Prince is a musician who plays bass for the local bands besides his day job at an ordnance factory. Handsome, dashing, and chivalrous, he does not have any troubles with the ladies and enjoys all the perks of a carefree, unattached life. When he is forced to move from his crammed but beautiful place by the seas, a friend offers him a room at Walgrove Manor. Walgrove Manor has a history of being occupied by a string of musicians for over a decade. Billy Moves into Walgrove manor to join his friend Ronny. As he runs through a series of flings and affairs, hitting it off with one pretty woman after the other, he does not realize that his aversion to commitment and his addiction to sex is driving him away from finding true love. Meanwhile, he sees his friends finding love and settling down to a life of domesticity and family. The other residents of Walgrove manor also move on to start their families, and Billy finds more of his friends to take up their place. The Walgrove manor soon becomes a large, happy family home for Billy, his friends, and their partners. Things come to a head at the launch function of his new band’s video, where the many women in his life come face to face with each other and, in the ensuing drama, one of them shoots Billy in the stomach. Billy finally realizes his true love for his long-time girl, Parker, and decides that it is time he settles down with the one who is in love with him.
‘The Prince of Walgrove Manor’ is a feature length screenplay by writer Phillip E. Hardy. Hardy paints the life of a young, carefree musician from the early 80s, living it up in the golden era of wild music and sex. He brings to life the ‘caution to the wind’ attitude of an era where STDs were just beginning to be a part of the conversations. Honesty and chivalry were still alive in the psyche of the average person. Hardy uses specific instances intricately woven into the story to add flair to the times and situations. He sketches the character of Billy, that of a wild 80s musician whose sole purpose in life is ‘to make music and chase tail’ to perfection.
‘The Prince of Walgrove Manor’ is as much a love story as it is a chronicle of life in the wild 80s. This is a beautiful story to bring alive the nostalgia of an entire era in its many dimensions with amazing production design and music from when life was wild, carefree and a celebration of being alive.
